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| UN HIV estimates reduced to 33m | UN HIV estimates reduced to 33m |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| The United Nations has reduced its estimates of how many people are infected with HIV in 2007 from nearly 40m to 33m. | |
| Revised figures for India account for most of the decrease, experts say. | Revised figures for India account for most of the decrease, experts say. |
| But the rate of new cases and mortality levels are declining, although figures still show that there are 6,800 new cases each day and over 5,700 deaths. | |
| Africa has by far the most number of cases, while parts of Asia have the fastest growing rates of infections. | Africa has by far the most number of cases, while parts of Asia have the fastest growing rates of infections. |
| Unquestionably, we are beginning to see a return on investment Dr Peter Piot, of UNAids | |
| Some 22.5m in sub-Saharan Africa have HIV but the number of new cases - 1.7m a year - is a smaller increase than in previous years. | |
| In Asia there are 4.9m people with the condition with Vietnam seeing a doubling of cases since 2000. | |
| UNAids executive director Dr Peter Piot said: "The improved data presents us with a clearer picture of the Aids epidemic, one that reveals both challenges and opportunities. | UNAids executive director Dr Peter Piot said: "The improved data presents us with a clearer picture of the Aids epidemic, one that reveals both challenges and opportunities. |
| "Unquestionably, we are beginning to see a return on investment. | "Unquestionably, we are beginning to see a return on investment. |
| "But we must expand our efforts in order to significantly reduced the impact of Aids worldwide." | "But we must expand our efforts in order to significantly reduced the impact of Aids worldwide." |
| The figures show there were 2.5m new cases in 2007, down from a peak in the late 1990s when there was over 3m new infections a year. | |
| The fall in annual deaths to 2.1m has been put down to wider access to antiretroviral drug treatments. | |
| It means some 33.2m have HIV, down from 39.5m in 2006. | |
| UNAids said the figures for 2006 were likely to be inaccurate after an intensive assessment exercise in India showed fewer cases than estimated. | |
| Prevention | |
| Experts say the true 2006 figure was likely to be about 32.7m. | |
| Professor Brookmeyer, a US public health expert at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said having accurate figures was important in combating HIV. | |
| "More accurate estimates and trends will ultimately lead to improvements in the design and evaluation of prevention programmes." | |
| And the Terrence Higgins Trust said more needed to be done to tackle HIV in the UK as recent figures suggest the rate of new cases is rising. | |
| Chief executive Nick Partridge said: "There is too little local investment and too little national focus on HIV which means our prevention efforts are not enough to keep it at bay. | |
| "We need to refocus on HIV in the UK and reinvest in prevention, rather than stand by and watch the spiralling costs of treatment as ever more people test HIV positive." |